Speaking out for the first time since their daughter's failed bid for a new trial, the parents of Molly Midyette asked a group of supporters in Boulder on Wednesday night not to give up hope that Midyette will be exonerated in the death of her 10-week-old son.

Dan and Jane Bowers made the rare public appearance at a rally in front of the Boulder County Courthouse along the Pearl Street Mall.

About 50 supporters grasped glow sticks in the cold air as a picture of Midyette -- now divorced and using her maiden name of Molly Bowers -- holding her baby, Jason, sat propped against a fountain.

"Your letters of support and your presence tonight are part of her healing," Jane Bowers said of her daughter, who is serving a 16-year prison sentence in the 2006 death of her son. "We had to get up and move forward because you were moving forward."

Midyette's then-husband, Alex Midyette, was accused of causing Jason's fatal injuries, and also is serving a 16-year sentence. He is appealing his conviction.

On Nov. 21, retired Boulder District Judge Lael Montgomery denied Midyette's request for a new trial. Midyette's lawyers claimed she was intimidated by her ex-husband and father-in-law and was unable to defend herself in her 2007 trial.

Jane Bowers said her daughter is a victim of a "broken legal system" and that her attorneys have already begun to appeal the judge's decision.

"Our focus right now is on supporting Molly though this difficult emotional time," she said.

Dan Bowers, the father of Molly Midyette, speaks to a group of about 50 supporters outside of the Boulder County Courthouse on Pearl Street on Wednesday night. A vigil was held in support of Midyette, who now uses the last name Bowers, following her unsuccessful bid for a new trial in the death of her 10-week old son, Jason.
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Jeremy Papasso
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She also said her daughter's life at the La Vista Correctional Facility in Pueblo has been difficult, and became even more so after the prison reduced the time that female inmates are allowed to spend outside due to the recent transfer of male inmates to the facility.

She said Midyette is helping other women in her unit by having her family make calls on behalf of other inmates who don't have the money to. She also graduated from the prison's "7 Habits" course, which is based on the book "7 Habits of Highly Effective People."

Both of Midyette's parents sharply criticized the judge and prosecutors in the case.

"Judge Montgomery empowered abusers in our community," said Dan Bowers, who wore a purple ribbon on his jacket. "That decision was a clear empowerment of an awful form of domestic abuse, let me tell you.

"It seems also that here in Boulder, that justice is dictated both by money and by politics."

Dan Bowers said his daughter was abused, and didn't deserve to go to jail for the death of her son.

"Molly was wrongfully convicted," he said. "She's one of these people we read about every day who has been wrongfully convicted by the system."

The vigil was organized by Joanne Belknap, a University of Colorado professor who has rallied supporters. The group calls itself "Team Molly."

Belknap read a letter written by Midyette in prison.

"Jason's birthday is coming up on Dec. 17, which is hard for all of us," the letter begins. "I hope all of you will take a moment on Dec. 17 to tell someone in your life that you love them. I think that would be in honor of Jason on his birthday."

Midyette's letter also cast blame on the judge and prosecutors.

"There are women and children who suffer from abuse, just as Jason and I did," she wrote. "We have no real voice in the legal system."

She wrote that her recent nine-day hearing in Boulder "crushed my soul."

Belknap said she and other supporters are feeling "sorrow and anger" at the decision not to grant Midyette a new trial.

"There is a war on women victims of domestic violence in this county," she said.

Jim and Mary Anna Cusick were among those who came to hear the speakers. The couple has known the Bowers for years, and they attended the most recent hearings.

"There is no doubt in my mind that the expert witnesses were correct in saying that she suffered from abuse... and it had to have influenced how everything was within her life," Mary Anna Cusick said. "She deserves to have her appeal and to have it heard again."

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